Carmen Colas

Carmen Colas is a veterinary surgeon and a doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Currently she is working as a postdoctoral researcher at the National Center for Cardiovascular Research (Madrid, Spain) and at the Children Hospital of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, USA). During her thesis in Zaragoza (Spain), under the direction of Dr. Muiño and Dr. cebrian, she studied the molecular mechanisms which govern the capacitation of spermatozoa: the role of second messengers (such us calcium and cAMP), and the protein kinases PKA and ERK, among others. She also contributed to the understanding of how seminal plasma proteins protect spermatozoa against the damage of cold. For her postdoc, she changed the topic of research, and joined Dr. Enriquez at CNIC (Madrid), where she is studying the regulation of the oxidative phosphorylation system by the nuclear genes, as well as the search of a mechanism which is able to overcome a mutation in the mitochondrial genome. At CHOP (Philadelphia), she was collaborating with Dr. Wallace in the study of how mitochondria participate in the process of differentiation. Her interests include, in particular, the mitochondrion and its role in differentiation and reproduction and, in general, any molecular mechanism which contributes to sustain living organisms.

Additionally, she has collaborated during her thesis and postdoc on teaching activities at Universidad de Zaragoza and Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.